Ms. Susan M. Pojer Horace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY Reconstruction (1865-1876) Ms. Susan M. Pojer Horace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY

One by one, southern states met Johnson’s Reconstruction demands and were restored to the Union. 2. Black Codes: new state government in South enacted black codes which restricted freedmen rights

Slavery is Dead?

Black Codes Purpose: Guarantee stable labor supply now that blacks were emancipated. Restore pre-emancipation system of race relations. Forced many blacks to become sharecroppers [tenant farmers].

Black Codes Curfew: Generally, black people could not gather after sunset Vagrancy Laws: Freedmen convicted of vagrancy-that is, not working-could be fined, whipped, or sold for a year’s labor c. Labor Contracts: Freedmen had to sign agreements in January for a year of work. Those who quit in the middle of a contract often lost all the wages they had earned.  d. Limits on women’s rights: Mothers who wanted to stay home and care for their families were forced instead to do farm labor.

Black Codes Continued d. Limits on women’s rights: Mothers who wanted to stay home and care for their families were forced instead to do farm labor. eLand restrictions. Freed people could rent land or homes only in rural areas. This forced them to live on plantations

Radical (Congressional) Reconstruction

4. Fourteenth Amendment: 3. Civil Rights Act: early 1866 Congress passed this act that outlawed the black codes 4. Fourteenth Amendment: a. Congress concerned that courts might strike down the Civil Rights Act decided to build equal rights into constitution b. June 1866 Congress passed the 14th amendment which was ratified by states in 1868 that stated: guaranteed citizens equal protection of the laws

14th Amendment Ratified in July, 1868. Provide a constitutional guarantee of the rights and security of freed people. Insure against neo-Confederate political power. Enshrine the national debt while repudiating that of the Confederacy. Southern states would be punished for denying the right to vote to black citizens!

The Balance of Power in Congress State White Citizens Freedmen SC 291,000 411,000 MS 353,000 436,000 LA 357,000 350,000 GA 591,000 465,000 AL 596,000 437,000 VA 719,000 533,000 NC 631,000 331,000

5. Reconstruction Act of 1867 Provisions: It put the South under military rule, dividing it into five districts, each governed by a northern general  b. It ordered southern states to hold new elections for delegates to create new state constitutions c. It required states to allow all qualified male voters, including African Americans, to vote in the elections

Reconstruction Act of 1867 Provisions: d. It temporarily barred southerners who had supported the Confederacy from voting e. It required southern states to guarantee equal rights to all citizens f. It required the states to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment

Radical Plan for Readmission Civil authorities in the territories were subject to military supervision. Required new state constitutions, including black suffrage and ratification of the 13th and 14th Amendments. In March, 1867, Congress passed an act that authorized the military to enroll eligible black voters and begin the process of constitution making.

Reconstruction Acts of 1867 Military Reconstruction Act Restart Reconstruction in the 10 Southern states that refused to ratify the 14th Amendment. Divide the 10 “unreconstructed states” into 5 military districts.

Reconstruction Acts of 1867 Command of the Army Act The President must issue all Reconstruction orders through the commander of the military. Tenure of Office Act The President could not remove any officials [esp. Cabinet members] without the Senate’s consent, if the position originally required Senate approval. Designed to protect radical members of Lincoln’s government. A question of the constitutionality of this law. Edwin Stanton

6. February 24, 1868: Johnson Impeachment hearing summarize Members found that Johnson firing of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton was unconstitutional and started an impeachment hearing b. May 1868 the Senate tried Johnson for high crimes and misdemeanors-only needed 2/3 of senators to vote for conviction of Johnson c. May 16: Johnson escaped impeachment by only 1 vote: this crisis set the precedent that only the most serious crimes & not disputes with Congress could remove a President

7. Who won the 1868 Elections? Former Union General Ulysses S. Grant is elected president (Republican)

15th Amendment Ratified in 1870. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Women’s rights groups were furious that they were not granted the vote!

8. Fifteenth Amendment a. Feb. 1869: passed the 15th amendment stating no citizen may be denied the right to vote by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. b. March 1870: 15th amendment is ratified and was one of the last major federal power over states’ rights c. Texas v. White: Supreme Court upheld Congress’s right to restructure southern gov’t and the ruling added new support for federal power over states’ rights

Fifteenth Amendment Continued d. 1870: With federal troops stationed across the South & with the 15th amendment southern black men proudly voted. Most voted republican while many angry white men stayed home = Republicans swept elections & hundreds of freedmen became public office in the South e. Result of Amendment for African Americans: more than 600 African Americans were elected to southern legislatures (16 African Americans voted into Congress & in 1874 Mississippi sent a former slave named Blanche Bruce to the Senate)

9. During Radical Reconstruction, the Republican party was a mixture of people who had little in common but a desire to prosper in the postwar South: a. Carpetbaggers: 1. Define: an insulting nickname for a Northern Republican who moved to the South after the Civil War 2. Who were they: most were honest, educated men how included former union soldiers, black northerners, Freedmen’s Bureau officials, businessmen, clergy, and political leaders

2. Scalawags: 1. Define: An insulting nickname for a white southern Republican following the civil War   2. Who were they: Former Whigs who had opposed secession, small farmers who resented the planter class, most were poor